Will the Real Mark Sullivan Please Stand Up? Part I
By Cal Pappas
No doubt about it, the name of Mark Sullivan stirs up emotions to levels not imagined in the hunting world. Mention his name on AR, even as benign as having a DVD to sell, and the fireworks start. Those that have hunted with Mark are very pleased with the resulting trophies. Others will state he wounds animals intentionally to invoke a charge. Like him or not, Mark’s name is arguably the best-known in the business. It is now time to put all the hype and emotion to rest and see the man for who he really is. Borrowing the title from a 1960s television show in the States, Will the Real Mark Sullivan Please Stand Up?
It was in the early 1990s at the school I was teaching at in Anchorage, Alaska. This was before my first African hunt (Zimbabwe, 1994) but I read all of Capstick as well as Hunter, Taylor, Sutherland, etc. I heard my name called as I entered the teacher’s lounge for lunch. The Round Table was where a 25-year tradition of white, middle aged, heterosexual, hunters and fishermen gathered at lunch and before school to tell a few off-colour jokes and solve the problems of the world, nation, state, city, and school from our ultra-conservative points of view. Mike A., after calling me over, said, “Pappas, you’ve got to go to the gun shop and see this video. A guy stops a buffalo charge with a double rifle. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! The shop is playing it continuously - not the entire video, just the charge - non-stop, all day.”
Of course I went to see the video play at the gun shop across town and came away knowing two things. First was the location of a proper frontal brain shot. I had read in vintage literature as well as more modern writings, such as Hemingway, that to shoot a buff in the charge mode was to aim for the nose or between the eyes. Mark’s first shot with his .500 was between the eyes and it didn’t slow the buff one bit. The second shot was just below the boss and the buff was dropped immediately. Second was the excitement of watching a video of just big game (now commonly termed dangerous game) hunted and seeing a Cape buffalo in full charge. I bought the video!
My old man sitting on the right taught me to shoot dogs.
How are we fellows to keep warm? Africanis pups, Magondi Tribal Trust Land, Zimbabwe, winter of 1977.
I just did. Maybe it was because of the boring life I had growing up. There was no adventure in my life. No danger in my life. So, I lost myself in my dreams thinking about hunting buffalo and charging ones at that. I shot many thousands of them. So when the eventful day came, August 16, 1990, with cameraman in tow, my dream to shoot a charging buffalo dead at my feet was finally realized. This became the famous Black Death charge that forever changed my life. Here is how it happened.”
“My client, Roy Barnes, was in poor health. To make matters even more difficult Roy was missing a left arm. Even with those obstacles Roy was great company. We found a good bull early one morning and Roy took a longish shot striking the bull in the body. The bull ran away and we followed. Upon finding the bull Roy shot several more times with his .375 and I took the opportunity to blast the bull once with my John Wilkes .500 Nitro Express and a 570-grain Woodleigh solid. The bull went to the ground. Roy stayed in the truck as I walked up. The bull was laying down with his back to me.”
“The ground had short grass. There were no trees or bushes to get in the way. I walked to within twenty feet of the wounded bull, adjusted my cap rearward so I would have full view of my front sight, and let him know I was there by purposely crunching the grass beneath my feet. I knew even the slightest sound would alert the bull. I knew he was alive.
I knew he heard me. I positioned myself to be charged. I wanted to be charged.”
“This was a new experience for my cameraman, too. I wanted it now. I had waited my whole life for this moment. I was like a kid in a candy store. It was mine for the taking. I never thought how stupid it was, or that I might die. To this day I don't think of those things. The bull turned and immediately charged. As my front sight zeroed in on his brain a weird thought flashed through me mind, ‘how simple this was!’ My sight picture looked perfect, I yanked the front trigger. To my surprise I did not kill the bull. He never slowed down. My first shot had absolutely no effect whatsoever. At that precise moment fear ran up my back and to the base of my head. I thought I was going to die. To this day, I still remember the thought, ‘I was dead.’ Then, in a millisecond, realizing my first shot missed the brain, understanding from my sight-picture etched in my brain, that my shot was low, I adjusted my front sight high on his forehead and pulled the rear trigger.
The bullet raced through his skull and into his brain killing him instantly. His head falling into my footprints, now departed.”
There is no doubt the placement of the bullet for a frontal brain shot on a buffalo is just below the boss. Mark has proved this numerous times. But, where did the idea of shooting for the nose or between the eyes originate? A bit of research will lead you to Ernest Hemingway. Not only was Hemingway a great writer but his experiences in Africa (1933 and 1953) were chronicled showing safari life to the general American public and, even to this day, his writings are studied in countless high school and college classes by students who don’t have a clue about the hunting life in Africa.
In The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (1936), the PH, Robert Wilson, is instructing Macomber how to successfully drop a charging buffalo. Hemingway writes, “When a buff comes he comes with his head high and thrust out. The boss of the horns covers any sort of a brain shot.
The only shot is straight into the nose.” While Hemingway was an outdoorsman he only had two safaris to Africa. He learned from the famous White Hunters of the day such as Phillip Percival. Is Hemingway saying the boss will prevent a bullet from reaching the brain? Any solid will penetrate the boss. A bit later a bull charges with his nose out and Francis meets his end. But, not by the buff. Also, in viewing Mark’s films, buff don’t charge with their head up and nose out and these films, while exciting, are also lessons in shot placement.
Between 1990, when the above charge took place, to 2006, Mark produced ten hunting videos and was known world wide as the man with charging buffalo and hippo. The excitement of the hunt and especially the charge make a definite impression on the viewer. It did me! Now that impression may be good, bad, or indifferent, or any number of other things, but it does stay with you! Mark states, “I’m not a computer guy. I don’t surf the Internet because I don’t give a damn. I live a simple life because I am a simple man. I am aware there is a lot of crap floating around about me. I would like to address some of the most stupid."
To be continued...
Also at the same convention I walked by a very well known Zimbabwean PH who was bad-mouthing Mark’s style of hunting - Mark had six videos on the market at the time - noting especially his disapproval of the charges of buffalo and hippo. I listened and when the PH noted my interest he called me closer, introduced himself, and asked me to watch his video of how buffalo hunting is done “correctly.” He played his video for those watching as well as myself. A client wounded a Cape buffalo and it ran off. After letting the buff “stiffen up” for about half an hour or a bit longer, the PH and client stepped into the back of the Land Cruiser. The bed of the ‘Cruiser was surrounded by a cage of one inch diameter tubing, spaced about eight inches apart, and to the approximate height of the men’s shoulders. Two of the staff - I presume the tracker and skinner - were in the cab and drove slowly into the bush following the spoor. When the buff was sighted he was killed with a few shots. The PH in the booth said, “Now that is how it’s done” and I departed with mixed emotions. What I knew was that Mark’s videos were thrilling to the core - no endless plains game shot at 300 yards or from a blind at a water hole. No spotlighting and night shooting or shooting from a vehicle. I remember thinking I would much rather track an animal (by now I had four hunts in Zimbabwe under my belt) than shoot it from the bed of a glorified pickup truck.
As the years passed and I acquired all of Mark’s videos and appreciated his demeanor and hunting style. I also was very impressed with his double rifles used. By then doubles were my life and I enjoyed seeing them used as they should be! I hunted South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania from 2002 through 2006 and ran into Mark at the Sea Cliff Hotel in Dar es Salaam. We spoke of double rifles and Mark came to my room to see the pair I brought to hunt in the Selous Game Reserve: a .450-400 Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector and a Joseph Lang .450 No. 2 (which is only 40 numbers apart from Mark’s Lang in the same calibre). And, as a side note, earlier in the day at the hotel I videoed some of the beach and hotel settings and also videoed some photos of Mark on the wall of the hotel for my girlfriend back in Alaska. She has had a crush on Mark and would drop me in a New York minute for a date with him. Mark kindly made a short “Hi Donna” video for me to take back home. And, it earned me extra points!
As the second decade of the new millennium came on I began following AR and noticed so much negativity about Mark I was baffled by it. How could so many be so angry at a man whom they had never met? Both at SCI and at the big Dallas Safari Club convention I heard the same. It was not all bad, but negative comments seem to stick around more than positive comments. As I was selling my book on the .600 Nitro Express many came to my booth. All of those that hunted with Mark had wonderful praises to say about him. Not one negative comment. The negative comments only came from those who had never met the man. The owner of the finest forum on guns and hunting on the planet has posted hundreds of very negative comments on his AR. A well-known hunter and author from Zimbabwe begins his Sullivan rants with, “I’ve heard that Mark Sullivan...”
So, to separate fact from fiction, let’s look at Mark Sullivan, see who he really is and what makes up this most controversial figure in the African hunting community and to close with details of his videos and an open letter regarding Safari Club International’s decision to ban Mark from its convention.
Mark first saw the light of this world on October 15, 1949 on Coronado Island in San Diego, California. He was the youngest of two boys. Mark’s dad, Harry Francis Sullivan, was a career naval officer and was aboard the USS Yorktown when it was sunk in World War II during the Battle of Coral Sea. Mark’s mother, Helen, was the traditional (for the time) stay-at-home wife and mother. Mark had a childhood similar to millions of other kids growing up in the prosperity of post-war America. He rode his bike, played with his Lionel trains, attended school, and enjoyed summer vacations. His family was not the outdoor type. There were no guns in the house so no shooting at targets or at small game, no fishing, no mountain climbing or other outdoor activities.
However, Mark’s family moved every two years due to Navy policy. During these moves Harry and Helen would take their sons to visit their grandparents in Montana. Mark states, “My dad’s mom and dad were exceedingly boring, requiring all the patience a young boy could muster.” Not so with his maternal grandparents who lived across town. They were outdoor folks who hunted and fished and young Mark would revel in stories of his grandpa Glase hunting pheasants with a 16-gauge shotgun, bagging a rabbit with a .22, or taking a deer for the family table food. No trophy hunting here, just table fare, but it was eye-opening for a young man with no outdoor experiences. “Grandpa become the most influential person in my life. Though my time with him could be measured in weeks, not years, he, more that anyone else inspired me to become the person I am today for he, unknowingly, put me on the path of adventure.”
In 1976 Mark bought two copies of a title he saw in a local bookstore, African Hunter. He bought two copies - at $40 each! - and gave one to his grandfather with an inscription of his admiration. Upon his grandfather’s death the book was returned to Mark where it remains in a place of honour upon his bookshelf.
Something was calling Mark at an early age to explore a world unknown to him at the time. In 1961, at the age of twelve, he received his first subscription to Outdoor Life magazine and was spell-bound by the stores of Jack O'Connor, Elgin Gates, Herb Kline and others. He dreamed about hunting in Africa. Stories of hunting white tail or black bear did not do much to make an impression on young Mark.
It was Africa! Big game, big rifles, the thrill of the chase, and danger in a far-off land took hold of Mark and did not let go. By fourteen Mark read a story in Outdoor Life about a grandfather who took his fourteen year old grandson on safari and the boy shot an elephant.
He made a vow to himself that someday he would go on his own safari and shoot an elephant. As Mark lived without any guns or outdoor adventure (except every other year when visiting Montana) this was a far-reaching goal. However, if Mark has learned anything over his sixty five years it is that a person is only limited by his imagination. “I have always kept true in my heart the self-taught belief that failure in not an option.”
In school Mark’s first car was a 1960 Austin Healy Sprite. This was in 1965 and he was attending Bullard High School in Fresno, California. A typical American youngster that loved cars and gas was cheap! Later he drove a ‘58 T-bird, a Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4, and an outstanding muscle car - a 1966 Chevelle Super Sport 396 big block.
In 1968 Mark graduated from Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Two later-to-be-famous personalities also went to Arcadia: Linda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Steven Spielberg. He does not elaborate on his high school career but two years after graduation Mark enlisted in the US Navy. His draft number was 171 and the Viet Nam war was still going strong even though President Nixon was gradually slowing the war down. An educational deferment would have kept Mark at Arizona State University until graduation but he made the choice to enlist sooner rather than later.
Shortly after boot camp Mark married Kathy Louise Espinosa on February 13, 1971. They are still married after 44 years. “I owe everything to my wife. She loves to hunt, she supports all that I do and is a fabulous companion. I could not have become the person I am without her.” Mark and Kathy have three children: Mark Ashley, Shawn Kelly, and Keely McKenna. Shawn worked as a PH with his dad and can be seen in some of the 1990s DVDs. On Kathy’s 24th birthday, September 20, 1975, she became the first Sullivan to draw blood in the field - a pronghorn antelope.
After this, the hunting fever took a hold of Mark. He states “In June of 1976 Kathy and I were invited to drive to Tucson, Arizona and meet C J McElroy, founder and Chairman of Safari Club International. I had heard of Mac but nothing more. I read an article about him and with it was a photo of him standing in the middle of his massive trophy room. I remember telling myself ‘I would give $100 to meet that guy!’ Back then a hundred bucks was a lot of money! Kathy and I arrived at Mac’s house. He was outside watering the flowers. This was long before the Museum was built or even thought of. Mac greeted us warmly and we became best friends until his death. We became frequent house guests. Mac and I would sit and talk until the wee hours of the morning; Mac telling me story after story. One night over dinner at Stuart Anderson’s, Mac asked me what I thought about SCI having it’s own record book? I told Mac I thought it was a great idea. I spent the next eight days with Mac measuring every animal in his trophy room. Between the two of us we established a measuring system that is still used to this day. Because of this I became the first Master Measurer for Safari Club International.”
Early in my writing career I noticed many hunters, guides, booking agents, and PHs made disparaging comments about Mark’s style of hunting. While some are thrilled at the charges filmed over the years, many developed a very negative attitude towards Mark. I listened and read much of what was said and wrote. Many were disgusted at the purposeful allowing of a buff to charge. The years passed and I met Mark in the late 1990s at an SCI convention in Las Vegas. He was a nice gentleman, passionate about his life as a PH, listened with respect when I spoke of my double rifles, and (to use an Alaskan term) was a skookum gent.
Mark Sullivan with a happy customer...
The moment fear seeps into your brain from the neck upwards...
Mark Sullivan showing shot placement on a charging hippo.
Said charging hippo.
Mark Sullivan with trophy lion.
Just past mock charge...
One angry hippo.
Mark Sullivan with trophy elephant © **NOT**PERMITTED**.com
“When it came time to raise money for the building of the Museum, Kathy and I contributed generously. We were one of five patron donors (the highest level). To this day my name can be seen on a bronze plaque as you enter the Museum. That is, if SCI has not removed it.” (More on the SCI controversy later in the article. It should be noted here that in the spring of 2013 Mark became a life member in SCI).
Shortly after Mark was developing a love of hunting and Africa he also was bitten by the double rifle bug. Beginning in 1978 he purchased a .475 No. 2 Jeffery, a .470 Mahillion, an Army and Navy .450, and a John Wilkes .500. The Wilkes was the rifle that stopped Mark’s first buffalo charge as shown on his first film, Africa’s Black Death. Many more followed including a .577 by Charles Osborne which he still hunts with today.
The interest in Africa never left Mark and in 1977, at 28 years old, Mark and Kathy, travelled to Zambia for a twenty nine day safari then on to South Africa for another sixteen days of hunting. Mark recalls, “While on that first safari I remember well telling myself that one day I will be a professional hunter. Thirteen years later I kept my promise.”
“In 1987 while attending the SCI convention as a client, I watched with great interest the newly acquired buffalo charge Jeff Rann showed in his booth. I believe the film was called Buffalo Hunting on the Savuti. I was very impressed with what I saw.
The wounded buffalo charged well. Jeff and his client shot many times. Finally the bull fell dead. Although you never saw Jeff or the client during the charge you could see the buffalo. He had fire in his eyes. That was the first buffalo charge I had ever seen. I'm sure it was the same for all the other folks there as well. But it got me thinking. It was about that time I was making the change from businessman to something else. I was getting myself in position so if an opportunity presented itself I could respond. What Jeff's movie did was give me focus. I liked what I saw. I wanted what I saw. For as long as I can remember, ever since reading Outdoor Life as a kid I dreamt of shooting charging buffalo. I don't know why.
Mac
